Perseverance
by K'ger
Summary: AU. When Aryll's mother dies, and her father is enlisted to fight in the war against Labrynna, she is left to live with a man she's never met before, her father's brother Link, who runs Ordon Ranch. Things get even stranger when her Uncle goes missing every month around the same time, only to say he remembers nothing of the sort. Rated T for minor violence & character death.
1. Chapter 1

**_K'ger: Yeah, so I should really be holding onto this story a little longer, mostly cuz I should focus entirely on my other story, Silence is Golden, but this story wouldn't leave me alone and kept pestering me until I gave in and wrote what you are about to read. I probably won't be updating this as often as Silence is Golden, but I'll try to at least post a new chapter a month until Silence is Golden is done._**

_Perseverance._

_Chapter one. _

_Silence was comfort. Words only made it hurt more._

Aryll tightened her grip, clutching her flower embroidered blue suede bag to her chest. She looked out the window, watching as the open landscape whizzed past, she watched as horses grazed in their paddocks and farmers worked their fields with large tractors.

"You know, I think you're going to like this place." Her father stated, glancing at her in the rear-view mirror.

Aryll looked up at him and their green eyes met.

"Yeah, how do you know?" she said sarcastically.

"Because there will be horses."

"Horses?" she asked hopefully, her face turned to skepticism.

"You're not lying, are you?"

Her father turned the car off of the highway and onto a narrow paved road. The sun glinted oddly against the wire fences the lined the road.

"Since when have I lied?" he responded, Aryll sighed softly, she didn't feel like bantering him.

They drove in silence for the next ten miles, her father made several turns, eventually ending up on a bumpy gravel drive lined with dense fir trees that signified that they were in Ordona province.

Cresting a large hill, Aryll could see a large farm spread out beyond. A two-story farmhouse stood closest to the driveway, while a big brown barn and a Cucco coop resided about thirty yards from the house. Probably close to ten pastures sprawled out around the property.

"We're here."

Aryll's father stopped the car near the house, he pulled the key out of the ignition and closed the car door with a loud thump.

She sighed and unbuckled herself, opening her door and swinging her legs out.

Her sneakers crunched on the gravel, the air was very fresh, which surprised her.

Her father put a hand on her shoulder, hugging her close to him.

"Welcome to your new home, Aryll."

* * *

A large silver dog jumped a post-and-rail fence and bolted into the barn. He slowed to a trot and entered the milking room. Large silver-blue goats stood with their heads restrained, eating grain contentedly.

A very tall man with sandy blonde-brown hair and light blue eyes looked up at the dog as it barked loudly, momentarily startling the goats.

"Shiro? What's wrong?" he asked, vaulting over the low fence that separated the goats from the main part of the room.

The dog jumped up and scrabbled out of the room, leading his master out of the barn.

Upon reaching the outdoors, the man could see a dark red sedan parked in his driveway, he face-palmed.

"Ugh! I forgot!" he scolded himself, breaking into a sprint toward the two people who were waiting beside the car.

* * *

Aryll's father greeted the man with a wave and strode away from her, he and the unknown man gripped each others' arm in a friendly embrace, the unknown man clapped her father on the back softly.

_Who is he?_ She wondered, still clutching her bag.

Her father turned back toward her, and the unknown man smiled sweetly at her.

"Aryll, please come over here." Her father beckoned, Aryll complied unsurely, nervous of the huge man. He was probably an entire foot and a half taller than her father, with broad, muscular shoulders and enormous hands, his entire complexion was a dusky tan, probably from working in the sun for days on end.

"Aryll, I'd like you to meet your Uncle, Link." Her father told her, her supposed Uncle knelt down to seem less intimidating, and smiled again, putting out a hand.

She reached out tentatively and he clasped her hand in his, shaking it gently in greeting. Her hand felt tiny in comparison to his.

"It's nice to meet you, Aryll." He said in a soft, compassionate voice, letting go of her hand.

"Um…its…nice to meet you to?" she said, almost as if it were a question.

The man's soft gaze fell upon the bag she was clutching.

"That's a lovely bag." He commented, Aryll let her eyes fall to the gravel.

"My mom made it."

Link's face fell, his cheeks turning slightly red at his foolishness. Why had he brought up that subject? He asked himself, you know it must still hurt.

Link straightened himself, looking at his brother.

"I can't thank you enough for this, Link." Aryll's father said, Link shook his head, putting one of his palms in the air.

"It's the least I can do, Ronan, I know this hasn't been easy on you two." Link responded.

There was a small stretch of silence.

"Are you sure you're ok with this? Taking care of a kid is a lot of work."

Link gave an awkward laugh.

"I think I've had enough experience with kids!"

Ronan looked at his brother with a playfully disapproving look.

"Human kids are not the same as goat kids."

"I know, I know. Aryll will be fine here."

Ronan walked over to Aryll and gave her a tight hug.

"You be good for your Uncle, alright?"

Aryll nodded, an annoying sting in the corners of her eyes. She was not going to cry. She had had enough of crying in the last week.

Her father let go of her and got back into the car. Link came up and leaned on the open window.

"You ok?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"Yeah, it just…hurts." Ronan answered, not looking at Link, his eyes were fixed on Aryll, who was currently introducing herself a big silver dog.

"I understand, I can't imagine how hard this is on Aryll, losing her mother at such a young age." Link commented.

"Actually, she worries me a bit," Ronan responded, "Sometimes I think she's taking this better than I am! And she's only ten!"

"Be careful, Ronan." Link said as his brother inserted the key and started the engine.

"I will."

"And kick Labrynna's butt for me, ok?"

"You got it."

Aryll's father turned the car around and headed up the driveway, he waved one last time and disappeared over the hill.

And so Aryll was left to stand in the driveway, her father heading off to fight in a war, with her only option being to live with the Uncle she had never met and a large dog that looked suspiciously like a wolf licking her chin.

_Life is weird._ She deduced.

* * *

**K'ger: So, hope everyone liked that, I thought it was a little boring, but I had to set the scene.**

**Let me know what you thought, I'd love to hear from all!**


	2. Chapter 2

Perseverance

Chapter two.

* * *

_It was dark._

_Aryll looked around, her pink nightdress billowing out behind her in a sudden gust of cold wind. She shivered as the wind chilled her to the bone._

_Aryll…a__feminine voice called, Aryll jerked her head in the direction of the sound._

_ "__Mom?" Aryll cried, looking around desperately in the dark. She could see nothing._

_Aryll…the voice called again. Tears began to flow from Aryll's eyes, she screamed for her mother again and again, but she never returned._

Aryll awoke to the sound of her own shrill scream, she sat bolt upright in the bed. Still panting from fright, she looked around, where was she? This wasn't her bed, these weren't her sheets, and this definitely wasn't her room. Outside a window near the bed, she could see a storm raging, massive thunderclaps drowning out the sound of her rasping breath. A bright flash of lightning shook Aryll to the core and forced another cry from her fear-stricken body.

Outside the room, she could hear the sound of bare feet pounding on hardwood. The door opened, startling Aryll, and a bare-chested man entered, his shaggy blonde hair falling in front of his eyes.

"Aryll, are you alright?" he asked in a soft voice. His voice kick started her memory, and it came back with a vengeance. She could clearly remember her father leaving her to fight in the Labrynnian War, she could remember being left in the care of her Uncle Link. And she could now remember going to bed.

Link sat down on the edge of the bed and put an enormous hand on her shoulder.

"Are you afraid of the storm?"

Aryll shook her head.

"N-nightmare." She said softly.

"Ah..." he said knowingly.

"Would you like me to stay here for a while?"

Aryll shook her head.

"No."

Link sat there for a moment before standing and heading for the door, a look of concern on his gentle face.

"Ok, well, remember I'm just down the hall."

Link closed the door to Aryll's room and strode back down the hall, entering the master bedroom. He looked over at the dresser as he entered.

He stopped as his eyes glanced across a picture frame. He walked over and picked it up.

The picture depicted a young woman and a little girl, the woman had bright red hair, and soft but intense amber eyes. The little girl had hair that seemed to be a blend of red and blonde, and her eyes were amber, like the woman's, but with flecks of bright blue. They were both sitting on the ground, the little girl in the woman's lap, their eyes were bright and lips were curled into broad smiles.

Link sighed and replaced the picture, going over to the bed and crawling under the covers. The big silver dog readjusted himself as his master got into bed.

Link had trouble sleeping after that, his mind was a knot of different emotions.

His mind wandered to Aryll, he felt sorry for her. Ten years old, and her mother was dead, her father was fighting in a war, and she was left in the care of him? A man she hadn't even heard of very often, let alone ever met!

_Don't be stupid, Ronan._ He thought as he slowly drifted back into sleep.

* * *

Aryll clutched her blankets against her chest, she gave a small yelp as another clap of thunder rolled outside her window.

After fifteen minutes of sitting and listening, Aryll threw the covers aside and scuttled over to the small desk in a corner of the room, digging around in her blue-suede bag. She pulled out a small, velvety stuffed lamb. It had black buttons for eyes and a red ribbon was tied in a bow about its neck.

She grasped the stuffed lamb close to her as she opened the bedroom door and snuck down the hall, the door to Uncle Link's room was open just a crack. She pushed it open and entered.

She looked around for a moment, nervous both from the storm, and the nightmare. She then noticed the picture on his dresser.

What is that? She wondered, creeping up to get a closer look. Her green eyes narrowed slightly as she wondered who the woman and little girl were. She dismissed it as lightning flashed outside the window.

She scrabbled over to Link's side of the bed and poked his shoulder, nothing.

"Uncle Link?" she whispered, one blue eye cracked open to look at her.

"Uncle Link? Can I sleep here tonight?"

Link yawned loudly and rolled onto his back, stretching his arms wide.

"Sure, you can sleep here. Shiro, move over!"

The big silver dog begrudgingly jumped off of the bed as Aryll crawled in, still clutching the stuffed lamb.

"Uncle Link?"

"Yes?"

"Who's that lady?" she asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"On the dresser."

"Oh, uh, her name was Midna." Link answered.

"Did you know her?"

Link was silent for a moment.

"Uh, yeah, once. Now go to sleep."

Aryll slowly scuttled herself deeper under the warm covers, suppressing a giggle as Shiro jumped back onto the bed and curled up at her feet.

_Midna, what a weird name, _she thought, slowly drifting to sleep, _whoever she is, I'd like to meet her._

* * *

Aryll leaned back against the leather seat of Uncle Link's station wagon. She looked out the window and examined the buildings they were driving past.

After finishing the morning chores, which had been much easier than Aryll had expected, Link had ushered her back into the house, telling her to change into clean clothes so they could go grocery shopping. He said that he only had enough food to feed one person for a week, not two.

"Uncle Link?" she asked looking at him from the rear-view mirror. He looked up momentarily from the road to meet her gaze.

"Yes?"

"What town is this? I've never been here."

Link gave a small chuckle, confusing Aryll.

"This is Kakariko Town, I'm not surprised you haven't been here, you and your parents lived in Castle Town, right?"

Aryll nodded.

"Yeah, Kakariko is pretty small in comparison."

Link pulled into a small parking lot, the large store had a big red neon sign that read, "Kakariko Farm 'n Feed".

"What do we need here?" she asked, unbuckling and jumping out of the car.

"We buy animal feed here, trust me, I think you'll like this store, lots of interesting things to look at, and I bet you've never been in a feed store before!"

Link led her across the parking lot and in through the automatic doors. Aryll was hit with the surprisingly pleasant smell of fresh hay. The wooden floors creaked beneath her as she followed her uncle toward the counter. A young woman with short red-brown hair was standing behind the desk. She wore a sensible denim jacket over a white tank top and scrapped up blue jeans. She smiled at Link.

"Good morning Link." She said to him as he reached the counter.

"Good morning Cremia." Link responded cheerily. The woman then noticed Aryll.

"Oh, hello, who are you, sweetheart?" she asked, coming around the counter to kneel down and smile at her.

"This is my niece, Aryll." Link answered for her, taking a few steps back to push Aryll forward slightly.

"Niece? She's absolutely adorable! It's nice to meet you, Aryll." Cremia said, holding out a hand to her, Aryll shook it nervously.

"So, Link, the usual?"

Link nodded as Cremia made her way back behind the counter.

"Aryll? Why don't you take a look around? Just don't leave the store, ok?"

Aryll nodded once and slowly wandered off as Cremia rung up the order.

"Why is your niece here? Her parents on vacation?" Cremia asked, ringing up the final item.

Link's face fell.

"Actually, her mother died last week, and her father was just called to fight in the Labrynnian War."

Cremia looked up in shock.

"Really? Oh my goddesses! That's terrible!"

They both looked toward Aryll, who was flipping nonchalantly through a book on how to take care of horses.

"Which of her parents are you related to?"

"Her father, but I was friends with her mother since we were kids."

"I'm so sorry, do you need any help at the ranch? Taking care of the farm _and_ a child is a lot."

Link flashed her a thankful grin.

"Nah, I'll be fine."

"Well, call me if you ever need any help, here's your ticket, you know where to go."

"Thank you, Cremia." Link said, taking the receipt and walking over to Aryll.

"Ok, kid, let's get going." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder, Aryll put the book back on the shelf and walked with Link back to the station wagon.

Her Uncle turned the engine on as she buckled herself in. Link pulled the car around to the back of the store and stopped at a loading dock, he put on the parking brake and left the car, opening the back of the car.

A young-ish man came out of the loading dock and took the ticket from Link, looking at it for a moment before disappearing inside. He came out a few minutes later with a dolly stacked with bags of feed. Aryll couldn't suppress a laugh as the car rocked when the two men started loading the car.

"Thanks, Kefei." Aryll could her Link say to the purple-haired man as he closed the back door of the station wagon.

* * *

Aryll pushed the cart after her uncle as he picked up various items and tossed them into the cart. Bread, chocolate cereal, ketchup, hamburger and an immense amount of other foods were all piled into the cart. Noticing that Aryll looked bored, a devious smile cracked across his lips.

He sauntered up to the condiment shelf and grabbed a green jar, Aryll could see that the label read, "Wasabi".

"Eww, you eat Wasabi?" she asked, leaning on her arms.

"Oh no! I hate the stuff!"

A confused expression crossed her face.

"No, I'm not buying this, but, while I get the last few things, I need you to carry this and play a game I used to play as a child."

Aryll took the small jar and swapped places with her uncle.

"What game?"

"I need you to put that in someone else's cart."

"What?!"

"You have to put that in someone else's cart, it's easy! Your mother and I used to play it all the time."

"My mom used to play this? And you knew her?"

Link started walking again.

"Oh, yeah! We were really good friends, but then life happened, she and your father got married, moved to Castle Town, had you." he said, stopping and ruffling her blonde hair.

As they wandered through the grocery store, Aryll noticed an unattended cart, she casually walked toward it, pretending to be interested in something nearby, and then, looking around, reached into the cart to place the Wasabi beside a gallon of milk.

"And just what do you think your doing, little girl." A cold voice said behind her, sending tremors through her body, she turned around quickly. A tall, white haired man was standing there, arms crossed. He was terrifying, with pasty, grayish skin and cold black eyes. He wore white platform boots, off-white tights and a white button-up shirt. He had a black diamond tattoo under his left eye.

"Oh, I…uh…thought this was my cart, I'm sorry." She said, trying to slip away, he stopped her with a harsh grip on her shoulder, forcing a frightened yelp from her. Link ran toward her.

The man turned, looking at Link, a look of disgust crossing her face.

"Is this yours?" he asked, pushing Aryll forward.

Link stopped short, and a tense moment passed as the two men glowered at each other.

"What are you doing here, Ghirahim?" Link growled, grabbing Aryll and pulling her close.

"It's a free country, I'm allowed to eat, aren't I?" Ghirahim snarled in reply.

Link pushed Aryll toward the cart and hurried her toward the cash registers.

"What's the matter, Link? Afraid?" Ghirahim called mockingly, Link pushed onward with gritted teeth.

"Uncle Link?" Aryll asked as he loaded the food onto the conveyer belt.

He only hmm-ed in reply.

"Who was that guy?"

"His name is Ghirahim, we used to go to the same high school, and he was a capital A-hole to anyone he met."

"Oh. So I take it you don't like each other."

Link paid for the food and walked Aryll out of the store.

"That'd be the simple way to put it."

After loading the groceries, Link smiled down at Aryll mischievously.

"So, what would you like for lunch? Burgers? Or how about pizza?"

"Pizza? You have pizza here?" she asked, green eyes widening with childish glee.

"Yeah, of course we have pizza! It's the best food on earth, and besides, it's healthy!"

Aryll looked at him, confused.

"Healthy?"

"How can it not be healthy? It's got grains, meat, vegetables, oils and fruit, if you like pineapple."

"Can we?" the little girl asked, her eyes hopeful.

"Yeah, sure! We can have pizza."

"YAY!" Aryll shouted, nearly dancing into the car.

Link smiled at her happiness and made his way for the door, his worry and stress melting away with the little girls' excited fidgeting and her beaming face.

He already loved her.

* * *

**K'ger: Yeah, I know, long time, no update. But I've been really busy lately, and Silence is Golden is bursting at the seams of my mind, so I've been pretty excited about that one.**

**So, I still find this a little slow, and I have to warn people, this story isn't exactly going to be very action-y.**

**Well, there you go, chapter two.**


	3. Chapter 3

**K'ger: Oh. My. God. I am SOOOOOOOOO sorry I took, what? a month and a half to update? Agh, I feel awful. But, in my defense, there's been a lot of crap going on around here lately. But here's chapter three, hope this story is picking up a little bit. **

**Special thanks to Link'sLily, Wildgirl404 and Ryedela(guest)! (sry if I didn't spell your name right.)**

* * *

Perseverance

Chapter Three

* * *

Aryll stopped just as she was about enter the barn, her green eyes wide with interest. Grazing in a far-off pasture were several horses, most of them had soft caramel-colored coats with black manes and tails, but one of them had a bright orange coat, and it's mane shimmered bright white in the gentle sunshine.

She jumped when something touched her shoulder, and whirling around, she found her uncle standing behind her. He laughed at her reaction before looking to where she had been staring seconds before.

"Oh, you like horses, do you?" He asked, a smile on his lips. Aryll nodded as she turned back to stare across the green fields, watching the horses with a longing look.

A strange sound met her ears as she watched the horses graze, she discreetly looked over her shoulder, Link had put a small, strange instrument to his lips. It was a ceramic blue ocarina with a shiny glaze. The horses whinnied as Link played a gentle tune, three simple notes, but beautiful all the same, and Aryll watched in awe as the horses all lifted their heads and trotted toward them.

The horses all stopped at the white rail fence, heads bobbing over the top railing and hooves thudding on the tightly cropped grass. She stiffened as Link stopped playing the tune and she felt large hands grip her under the arms. Link lifted her with ease and carried her over to the fence.

One of the horses, the orange one, trotted over to the gate, and, with a practiced flick of her muzzle, unlatched the lock, opening the gate for Link and Aryll to enter. Although she loved horses, she had never imagined them as this large. They loomed over her, with gigantic hooves that could probably squish her like a bug in a single step.

"Um…Uncle Link?" she started, squirming slightly in her Uncle's strong grip. Her movements didn't faze him, and with a careful swing, he hefted her onto the back of the orange horse. Aryll sat like a statue on the horse's back, small hands firmly grasping handfuls of white mane and legs clamping the great animal's sides.

"It's ok, Epona won't hurt you. Just relax." Her Uncle said soothingly, running a hand over the mare's broad nose. He clicked his tongue softly and she yelped as the mare started forward, following Link without even being told. He led her around the pasture, Epona nickering occasionally and breaking the otherwise nervous silence between the two of them.

Slowly, and completely subconsciously, Aryll loosened her grip on the mare's mane, and began to enjoy the soothing back-and-forth motion of the horse's great strides.

"See? I told you she wouldn't hurt you." Link said quietly, not looking at her as he continued around the pasture. Without another word, he broke into a jog, and with a excited whinny, Epona burst forward in a bouncy trot, startling Aryll.

She grabbed for the mane again as she was bounced forcefully up and down, quickly circling the pasture. But as she rode, she began to like the speed, and, as the mare began to outrun Link, she started to laugh, completely carefree as the mare jumped into the air and came back down. Horses weren't really scary at all…

* * *

_A loud scream pierced the air. Aryll looked around frantically, where was she? She was, somehow, standing in the middle of a wide courtyard with tall city buildings all around, people were running past her in massive droves, screaming and shoving their ways out of the area. What was going on?_

_She ducked as an earsplitting bang caught her off-guard. It was a gunshot, and a split second later, a shrill, agonized scream followed. As the people fled, Aryll could see four people who remained still. Two were standing, while the other two were laying flat on the concrete, she felt like she was going to vomit when she noticed the pools of dark crimson that surrounded the two on the ground. _

_One of the people still standing brandished a handgun, a woman with shocking red hair and skin so pale it looked almost green. She pointed the gun toward the other figure still standing, a man with broad shoulders and blonde hair cut to hang shaggily above his pointed ears. She could feel the blood drain from her face as she recognized him. It was her Uncle Link!_

_She screamed his name, but he didn't seem to hear her, his eyes were focused on the woman, who jutted the gun toward him, one of her long, slender fingers resting on the trigger._

_There was another gunshot. A scream, and everything went black…_

* * *

Aryll awoke yet again to sound of her own scream as she sat bolt upright in her bed. The nightmares were getting worse, more realistic, more frightening, and now, more gory. Since the night her mother had died, she had suffered from the ridiculous nightmares, some of them so frightening it made her wary of even going to bed.

She threw the covers of her bed aside and jumped down, bare feet hitting the wooden floors and making soft scuffing sounds as she padded over to the door. She opened the door slowly, trying to keep quiet and, glancing in both directions, made her way for the master bedroom, hoping to sleep in Link's bed tonight.

She opened his bedroom door, stepping inside and waking Shiro, the big dog. He jumped from the king-size bed to run at her, licking her chin and hands and making soft whimpering noises. Aryll then noticed that Link wasn't there. She glanced at the bedside alarm clock.

2:37 AM.

Why was Uncle Link still up? It was really late, and he normally went to bed at around Midnight. She turned back, heading down the hallway and down the stairs. She entered the living room, only to find it empty. The kitchen, the dining room, and the den were all the same.

Now Aryll started to worry, where was he? He wasn't in the house at all. With her heart and mind racing, she climbed the stairs again, heading for her bedroom with Shiro at her heels. But she didn't make it to her room, she stopped in front of the first door on the left. The office.

She had never been in the office. She could remember her first day staying here, she had been exploring the house while Link cooked dinner, and she had opened the door. In an instant, he had been there, pulling the door closed again.

"I'd rather you didn't go in there, I'm…uh…redecorating, a big mess right now." He had said, taking her by the shoulder and ushering her off to eat dinner.

She couldn't resist. She had to go inside, the temptation was too much. Aryll opened the door, cringing as the hinges creaked and squeaked. It was a small room, with bookshelves lining the walls and a cluttered desk in the middle of the room.

She tiptoed over to the desk and turned on a table lamp. One folder in particular caught her attention immediately, it was a manila folder, with a large red "CONFIDENTIAL" stamp across the top. Flipping it open, the document on top read had a picture of…wait…her Uncle Link?

The picture rested at the top left corner. Link was looking right at the camera, he looked much younger, no worry lines, rounded features, and his hair had been cropped close to his head. With curious eyes, she began to read the document.

**H.A.T.U. General.**

**ESCORLAN, L.**

She didn't get any further, the rest of the text was covered by another large red stamp.

**_M I A_**

Missing in action? Uncle Link had been in the military and had gone missing? She looked the document over for a date, she found it at the top right corner.

**5/13/1991.**

Twenty-three years ago? Wow, that's a long time ago. She thought, flipping the document over to the other side and looking at the next piece of paper. It was a newspaper article.

* * *

**H.A.T.U. General Escapes Labrynnian Prison After Five Years M I A.**

**In the early hours of last Thursday morning, a bruised and bloody man was found in a roadside ditch just outside of Labrynna. Unconscious, but alive, he was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he is now in stable condition .**

**The man has since been identified as a ****_Link Escorlan, _****a general of the, ****_"_****_Hylian Armed Tactical Unit, or H.A.T.U." _****declare almost five years ago.**

**Mr. Escorlan has been thoroughly questioned on his five-year ordeal, but only mere basics have been uncovered.**

**No further details are known at this time.**

* * *

Aryll screamed when a howl broke out in the forest on the edge of Uncle Link's property. A long, melancholic cry of a wolf, it went on for close to a minute before dying off, leaving a chilled silence in it's wake.

Hurriedly, Aryll closed the manila folder and rushed out of the office, closing the door and running full speed into the master bedroom. She dove under the covers, covering her head with the blankets and trembling as the wolf howled again, a mournful baying that sent shivers down her spine. The beast sounded so sad.

Shiro clambered onto the bed beside her, curling up against her back. After several minutes, the wolf moved on, and Aryll fell into a fitful sleep…

* * *

**K'ger: Again. I apologize from the bottom of my heart for the lengthy wait. I will try my best (no guarantees!) to update faster.**


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